From: amilabs@optonline.net
Date: Wed Sep 18 2002 - 18:12:14 GMT-3
A little late but what the hell.
I posted the information below on an older link but I am putting it here
again in case some folks missed it.
I want to take the time to thank groupstudy and all of you folks who really
enjoy this stuff. Even though I have been in this industry for almost 20
years and sometimes I think I have seen it all, I learn something every now
and then visiting this forum. I enjoyed all of the tips, tricks and advice.
I wish the best for all of you attaining your career goals, all I can say is
if you love this stuff stay with it, know your protocols, learn project
management and become a sniffer packet head as well. Good luck to all and
thank you for your support... My ccie story follows:
So much for my undefeated cisco test record CCNA,DA,NP,DP, IE written all
passed on first attempt. As for the lab oh well....
I just took it on 9/9 in RTP. I came close but no cigar on my first attempt.
All I can say is that a 3550 is in each rack, but not hooked up. Considering
I took CCO verbatim, I practiced on the last two months using the 3550. The
lab still had Cat5ks in them. No problem though I had many years experience
on cat5k so the lab tasks were not too tough here.
I can say this that after all the studying the lab did not look too
difficult(frightening), it is doable, however you have to be fast and know
your stuff. I was amazed how much my lab looked like the practice ones in
the Cisco Press Solie book...(real close) I only had a week of practice
labs. I needed(originally scheduled) a month, that was the screw-up on my
part. I learned to touch type and can fly through at 40wpm but I did not
practice labs often enough to get my time in under 8 hours. I read so much
and practiced all the examples in the Doyle I II, Caslow, Halabi, Practical
studies etc and all the CCO documentation. I knew the content in and out. I
was feeling good about that but I knew I did too much reading and lab
testing and not enough lab exam simulation to be a little worried. When I
got there and read the lab I felt confident about the content of what had to
be done. I could have nailed it in 12 hours, after fixing things etc but in
8 I was not ready for the amount of configuration tasks they give you to get
it right the first time. I also never configured or saw a 3920 in my life
but was able to configure it(thank you Solie). I had one ATM interface I
never used before so I screwed that up. I was typing atm interface
configurations in wordpad for a week prior but it is not the same thing.
Reading through the lab I saw the pitfalls etc.. of configuration
relationships but the wording of the lab is tricky as well, so I spent too
much time on a couple of things that blew my overall time. Time management
is critical just as others here have stated. The lab proctor is very helpful
and if you have questions about a configuration task, ask them. Since there
are many ways to configure something to achieve the same results the lab
wording is not as specific as I would have hoped for. So read between the
lines…
Live and learn, I rescheduled for next July(no rush)but I may not bother
since I have been in this business for 18 years and may retire from it
altogether in 04. It was a fun challenge for I had a few months between gigs
and went for it. I learned and strengthened a lot of skills and the lab day
was a blast. Cisco conducted a first rate exam. Everything is taken care of
for you and the proctors are helpful, lunch was great and the discussion was
fun. The proctor was telling stories about what folks tried to get away with
during a lab.
It went by so fast the day was a blur.
My only complaint is the documentation CD. You see I used a regular April 02
documentation CD during my studies and practiced findings unique things if
needed. The documentation CD we use let’s you search for
“technical tips sections”. What I mean is if I am in the 12.1
configuration guides in the CD and I click on search and type in “ ATM
technical tips” or “BGP technical tips” I will get a
technical tips sections with config. examples to help me out just like on
CCO. This works in the CD you put in you PC but it is not available in the
LAB. Technical tips will not show up. I was ticked off a little but moved
on…(besides we should be so good as to not need the CD)…
To me this is a hobby so it was a lot of fun even if I am a loser in the
lab:{
It is doable so for those who are looking to break into this industry or
want to move up just keep at it. I hope my experience outlined here helps, I
believe I kept it in the realm of the NDA…
Now to move on to some other technologies, man I am sooo sick of Cisco
routers for now:)
Good luck to all.....
PS my online lab will be available in a week and a half. It has everything
you need to prepare(except ATM) and then some. Email me for more
information. jsicuran@optonline.net
/JS
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